Page 48 - 2020 AMA Summer

MISCARTICLE
Remind yourself of what makes a QMD in winter so you can make an honest appraisal of it. Make sure your day has enough detail – What route did you take, what was the snow conditions like, did you make any decisions that affected your route? The more you can put into this the better the day looks. I have heard of some candidates uploading a route logged on their GPS watch into the DLOG – this maybe great if the assessor has the same software. If they don’t make sure you have described the day in enough detail anyway.
I don’t know why the research paper is an issue but apparently it is. This is sent out a couple of weeks before hand and is an open book test. You can spend five minutes on it, or you can spend a few hours making sure it is completed to the best of your ability. The main problem is that some people have turned up without completing it or with unanswered questions. By doing this it makes it look as if you don’t know the answers and don’t know where to look to find them either. This seems to me to be a really easy way to p*** off your assessor with the easiest aspect of the assessment.
Kit and equipment is a really personal thing and everyone will have an opinion, so I am not going to get too involved with this issue. If you come on your assessment and have to borrow boots, rucksacks and ice axes the question in the assessor’s mind will be- ‘If they don’t have this kit how have they been logging QMDs’. I am not an expert on kit, but I
know what works for me in the hills and who I trust to go to for advice.
The assessment week is five days long split into three sections;
1) Teaching Day
2) Steep Ground Day
3) Expedition- two night
The teaching day is one that you can also prepare for before the course starts. Teaching people how to use crampons & ice axes along with slipping and sliding can be thought out into lesson plans that you can do on the hill. Having a clear method of teaching a skill, communicated in a succinct manner with maximum class activity (MCA) is the aim. Don’t waffle when showing someone something- try and make it as simple and easy as possible. If you can practice your ‘patter’ at home, it’ll flow much better when the assessor is looking over your shoulder. Working in freezing conditions means that MCA not only keeps the group engaged with loads of opportunities to practice, but it also keeps them moving and warm. Sending people through one at a time isn’t that efficient. Nothing will ruin your lesson more than the group switching off and becoming mildly hypothermic! One member of the team taught his self arrest lesson and recorded the students on his phone. He could then give coaching points back to them with that as a visual reference. Great if the weather allows so always have a traditional back up plan. The evening of the first day we went through our research paper.
The steep ground day needs a lot of judgement and practice. My assessment group was taken on a journey and we were told to do what was appropriate for the conditions & terrain in ascent and descent. It wasn’t a set piece number of anchors or lowers by the assessor, they really wanted to see my judgement on what was right. Don’t be afraid to go back to your summer skills for some of this- they expect you to. Spotting someone up a short step maybe the quickest and most appropriate way of getting them up or down something. Similarly cutting bucket sized steps shouldn’t discounted. Your position, coaching and communica- tion needs to be clear and on point for all of this. Getting out loads and using your summer leadership skills with groups will make it easier when the conditions are against you. Remember that getting the rope out may not be the right thing.
I am not an expert on kit, but I know what works for me in the hills and who I trust to go to for advice.
When you do get the rope out though have an idea in your mind what you are going to do – think about the snow conditions and what will be the most secure. Along with demonstrating the usual anchors higher up the mountain I also had to bury my rucksack to back up my bucket seat as the snow was too soft lower down. I’d recommend practicing this if you haven’t already as it’s a bit of an art and took a little longer with the extra digging and thought process. Having a set method of cutting a snow bollard or burying an axe for example is a good idea. I have heard horror stories of assessors asking candidates to bury an axe multiple times because the student did something different each time and it spooked the assessor. Keep it simple and stick to your method.
Confidence roping should be slow and controlled while also communicating throughout. I think I only moved 200m in 20mins as I want to make sure I wasn’t going to be compromised. Be careful and don’t try to go to fast. Each step should be a belay! Check the distance between you and your ‘client’ and try to get it dead on straight away. Having to adjust it half way down a slope will ruin your flow and may cause you to rush.
48 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER